NBC’s Bob Greenblatt & ’30 Rock’s Tina Fey React To Tracy Morgan’s Homophobic Rant
Tracy Morgan Comes Under Fire For Anti-Gay Rant
NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt, the first openly gay topper of a broadcast network, and 30 Rock creator/executive producer/star Tina Fey just issued statements in response to homophobic remarks by 30 Rock co-star Tracy Morgan at his stand-up show in Nashville last Saturday. The rant, in which Morgan said, among other things that “if his son told him that was gay he … would pull out a knife and stab that little n***** to death,” has created a media firestorm, with gay-rights groups demanding an apology. Morgan issued one earlier today. Greenblatt’s statement indicates that reps for the network have spoken with the actor and “we made it clear to him that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated”, so Morgan will continue on 30 Rock:
Bob Greenblatt, Chairman NBC Entertainment:
I speak for NBC and myself personally when I say we do not condone hate or violence of any kind and I am pleased to see Tracy Morgan apologizing for recent homophobic remarks in his standup appearance. We will always recognize an artist’s freedom to express him or herself, but not when reckless things are said no matter what the context. Unfortunately, Tracy’s comments reflect negatively on both 30 Rock and NBC — two very all-inclusive and diverse organizations -– and we have made it clear to him that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated.
Tina Fey, Executive Producer, 30 Rock
I’m glad to hear that Tracy apologized for his comments. Stand-up comics may have the right to “work out” their material in its ugliest and rawest form in front of an audience, but the violent imagery of Tracy’s rant was disturbing to me at a time when homophobic hate crimes continue to be a life-threatening issue for the GLBT Community.
It also doesn’t line up with the Tracy Morgan I know, who is not a hateful man and is generally much too sleepy and self-centered to ever hurt another person.
I hope for his sake that Tracy’s apology will be accepted as sincere by his gay and lesbian coworkers at 30 Rock, without whom Tracy would not have lines to say, clothes to wear, sets to stand on, scene partners to act with, or a printed-out paycheck from accounting to put in his pocket.
The other producers and I pride ourselves on 30 Rock being a diverse, safe, and fair workplace.
This makes me love Tina Fey even more. Her letter was serious, yet had some moments of comedy – “is generally much too sleepy and self-centered to ever hurt another person.”
Tina Fey is probably hilarious even in her sleep!
She was hilarious in her sleep in the episode where she was sleep eating and it was caught on video. But, yes, I agree with you, she is probably hilarious even in her sleep.
Those are weak and pitiful statements. Greenblatt doesn’t even say it’s disgusting. Fey gives it a pass, too. VERY disappointing response from both of them. Think about what happened to Juan Williams at NPR. This is much worse. HE SAID HE WOULD PULL OUT A KNIFE AND STAB HIS OWN CHILD TO DEATH IF HE WERE GAY. That’s pretty close to: All gay people should be stabbed to death.
I hope these sorry statements come back to haunt both of them; their words are beneath them. This isn’t going to go away. I hope GLAAD will have the strength to tell both of them that their statements don’t go far enough. How can NBC, and Fey, continue to keep Morgan on the air? Trust me, he has a clause in his contract in which a statement like this constitutes breach. He should be fired immediately.
Are you saying all gay people shouldn’t be stabbed to death?
Are you saying they should be stabbed to death?
@Wait- Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. And Mr. Morgan is saying the opposite, no?
……and what will be the reason you fired him? I understand that people are upset and rightfully so; however, fire him for ONE mistake…humm….sorry not going to happen.
And where is the NAACP? He actually said he’d stab the little N word to death. That’s offensive too. Nobody seems to mention this though probably because he’s black which means he gets some sort of pass. Tracey is ignorant and insecure. He clearly hates himself and everybody else. He’s probably gay. Another hypocrite like Bishop Eddie Long.
He’s done some crazy stuff in the past, but this is just CRAZY even for even him.
Tracy really needs to go on a talk show and really convince us that he is sorry. I’m just not buying his statement. And I do like how Tina put it simply in her statement “for his sake …or a printed-out paycheck from accounting to put in his pocket.” You know who’s the boss on this show.
I’m gay.
I watch 30 ROCK.
I was disturbed by TM’s comments.
I accept TM’s apology. I love Tina even more, and well said Mr. Greenblatt.
I am also gay, I also watch 30 Rock but even with an apology from Tracy Morgan, do people really think he is not homophobic and would be violent about it because he said sorry?
He said sorry because he saw how public opinion had Charlie Sheen fired from a much bigger show. Sheen was a much bigger star to 2.5 men and to CBS than Morgan is to 30 Rock and NBC and still, a simple sorry I didn’t mean it is good enough for an openly gay Network Chief and awesome Tina Fey? Really!
I am done with 30 Rock. They should have fired him, it’s not like it’s the first time he does it, they should have use that to fired him and hire someone new, maybe then more poeple would watch, it’s not like they have too many viewers right now…
So you would rather put the many gays and lesbians employed on 30 Rock out of work?
Notice how NOWHERE in that comment did it say that 30 Rock should be canceled… just that Morgan should be fired. That would not put any gays or lesbians out of work, just one homophobe.
So you think 30 Rock would shut down without Tracy? Have you ever watched the show? He’s easily replaceable.
Tracy Morgan was off 30 Rock for three episodes this last season and the writers struggled without him. His stand up is terrible (and offensive, apparently), but on 30 Rock he is great. It’s no guarantee that 30 Rock would be cancelled without him, but the show has always struggled with ratings (btw, how many of you threatening to boycott 30 Rock actually WATCH 30 Rock? Not many, I bet) so it’s entirely possible that without one of the key cast members the writing and performances could suffer and many people can lose their jobs.
Absolutly right, all the gays & gay supporters should boycott 30 Rock. If the gay ppl do not stand up for themselves and DEMAND respect and EQUALITY- they will never get.. “Demand that Tracy Morgan be Fired now for his Homophobic, Hateful, and Disturbing remarks.
@Nope. You do realize that the writers struggling without him there was just a fictitious storyline that played out in the show… yes? It didn’t really happen you know in real life and all. Sheesh!
F*ck Tracy Morgan — fire his ass. Who needs this idiot? Plenty of funny people around.
You should take his place. Your post was hilarious.
Come on people… He’s a comedian working through a routine in a comedy club. I’ve heard far worse at The Laugh Factory. At least TM has everyone talking about the real, underlying issues here whether he intended us to arrive at this point. Surely comedy, even in poor taste, desensitizes the stigmas surrounding issues making them more approachable for discussion. Take a joke already.
Really? He has everyone talking about the issue? So you mean, like, maybe half the country is on his side and we should have a debate on this issue similar to whether we should withdraw from Afghanistan more quickly? He said he’d stab his son to death if he’s gay. And he’s not some unknown at The Laugh Factory, he’s the star of a network show. BTW, Michael Richards unleashed his tired at a comedy store and it was a huge story. It was crazy and disgusting but he didn’t go so far as to talk about killing people because of their differences. All your post says is: I agree with Tracy!
Really? He has everyone talking about the issue? So you mean, like, maybe half the country is on his side and we should have a debate on this issue similar to whether we should withdraw from Afghanistan more quickly? He said he’d stab his son to death if he’s gay. And he’s not some unknown at The Laugh Factory, he’s the star of a network show. BTW, Michael Richards unleashed his tired at a comedy store and it was a huge story. It was crazy and disgusting but he didn’t go so far as to talk about killing people because of their differences. All your post says is: I agree with Tracy!
There are some things that are not a laughing matter. Just as Tina said -the imagery of his “comedy” is startling. As a parent of a gay teenager -I was greatly offended. I would never tell a questioning child I would stab them if they came out to me. It’s not a joke -it’s hate wrapped up in a pretty package. In this case -the packaging wasn’t even pretty. There is a line between what is appropriate and what should be treaded on carefully. Tracey didn’t even apologize until he saw it offended many people -that alone shows he really didn’t care until it looked like it will affect his job.
Some things are not a laughing matter? Who gets to decide this, you? This is why we have free choice. You can choose not to go to Tracey’s show but if I want to go see him do his set because I find him funny, who are you to dictate to me what is funny? And if your opinion on what I find humorous is differing then good for you, but remember, that’s just your opinion, just as this is just mine. Let’s all ‘agree to disagree’.
You’re right of course. I mean, who can’t see the humor in stabbing your child to death?
@Take a Joke. Well said.
Bob Greenblatt dropped the ball on this one, Tracy Morgan is as bigoted as Mel Gibson and needs to go.
I wonder if all the people trashing Tracy Morgan still buy SEINFIELD dvds?
It’s 2011. Nobody buys DVDs.
Never did. Never will. Don’t care for either of them.
Ummmm -you know that Michael made those comments well after Seinfield went off the air. People who already own the series on DVD -just have to let it sit on the shelf. Tracy is on a current broadcast series at the moment and when people watch it -some will be thinking about this when his character comes across the screen. There is a difference.
NOBODY buys DVDs anymore so that’s a moot point…
That’s not true though, is it.